This article contains spoilers for MHA
The My Hero Academia series features a giant cast of lovable and memorable characters, all of whom come with their own drastically different design schemes to help make them feel unique. For the audience, it can be a real joy seeing what makes each hero and villain different from a visual perspective, but for Kohei Horikoshi, the author of the series, actually having to draw every single one of these characters a countless number of times throughout the series can't be an easy task.
Most manga authors who choose to speak openly about their work will admit that some characters are a lot more difficult to draw than others, but there still tends to be a handful who are a lot easier and more enjoyable to insert into the story for one reason or another. During a recent interview with the Japanese men's fashion magazine NON-NO, Horikoshi spilled the beams on which character from My Hero Academia he enjoys drawing the most, and even provided information on one of his favorite scenes in the entire series, which he no doubt had an absolute blast drawing in the manga.
Horikoshi Loves Drawing Mirko
The Quick And Deadly Pro-Hero Is A Lot More 'Free' Than The Other Professionals
- The rabbit hero can move around more freely than other heroes
- She loves jumping into an intense battle any time she can
Mirko is a Pro Hero who actually shows up fairly late in the story, but that didn't stop her from quickly becoming a fan-favorite character who would quickly take the My Hero Academia fanbase by storm not long after she debuted. However, it seems as though the fans aren't the only ones who have fallen in love with Mirko, as when asked about who he loves to draw, Horikoshi himself admitted that the rabbit hero was the one he had the most fun with, and there's a particular reason why this is the case.
According to Horikoshi, many of the key characters in the story, including Midoriya, end up "carrying a lot with them" as the plot progresses. On the one hand, this could refer to their actual outfits, considering that, by the final arcs of the story, many heroes and villains did have much more complex designs to keep track of due to equipping so many weapons and gadgets to their attire. On the other hand though, it can also relate to the emotional baggage that many of them start to carry after enduring so much hardship throughout the story. These two issues, however, weren't anywhere near as prevalent for Mirko.
"I purposefully never drew a deep story for Mirko, and she could fight freely" - Horikoshi
Unlike Pro Heroes such as Hawks or All Might, Mirko doesn't exactly have a long or ambitious character arc, at least not in the main story. Instead, she is simply an absurdly powerful hero who is eager to jump into any chaotic fight that she can play a part in. This means that most of her scenes simply show her beating down a few villains and rescuing civilians along the way. In this sense, she wouldn't be bogged down by any of the weight that Horikoshi had described before, and since her fairly simplistic design scheme allows her movements to feel very believable and natural in motion, it allows Horikoshi to move Mirko around the environments a lot easier than say Endeavor for example, who's a lot bigger and more cumbersome.
Mirko's Best Scene Was A Lot Of Fun For The Author
The Rampage Through Jaku Hospital Must Have Been An Absolute Blast To Draw
If someone were to ask a My Hero Academia fan what the most epic scene in the entire series is, there's a good chance that their answer will be the time that Mirko went on a murderous rampage through Jaku Hospital. Of course, the Pro Hero wasn't aiming to take out any civilians, but was instead laser-focused on demolishing multiple high-end Nomus through a barrage of deadly punches and kicks.
"It was really fun drawing her rampage fighting scene at Jaku Hospital" - Horikoshi
Thanks to her devastating Luna attacks, Mirko was capable of crushing a staggering number of these dangerous beasts in record time, and for Horikoshi, there's no doubt this was an exhilarating action-packed scene for him to illustrate. Considering Horikoshi had mentioned that he is able to depict Mirko moving a lot more "freely" than the other heroes, it suddenly makes sense why she was moving at such high speeds during this intense showdown.
By this point in the manga, Horikoshi's artwork had reached a whole new level of artistry, and the Jaku Hospital attack is a shining example of this. Though Mirko may have picked up some pretty nasty injuries not long after this memorable clash, it's still a moment which all My Hero Academia fans will remember for a long time, and one which the author himself admits is one of his favorites.
Who Does Horikoshi Struggle To Draw?
There Have Been A Few Characters Who Aren't Quite As Straightforward As Mirko
- Shigaraki can be a little complex to draw
- Bakugo is surprisingly difficult to get right
So while it's clear that Mirko is one of Horikoshi's favorite characters to draw because of her freedom and simplicity, in the past, he's also made specific reference to a few characters who are a little more tricky. In volume two of the manga, Horikoshi specifically states that, while he always pays close attention to drawing a character's hands, there is a particular individual who almost brought him to the verge of tears due to how much work he needed to put into designing him, and the character in question would have to be none other than Shigaraki, considering he once had multiple hands covering his entire body.
"There's one character in this volume who's especially difficult and who had me on the verge of tears every week" - Horikoshi
Thankfully for the author, Shigaraki would eventually decide to ditch the hands late in the story, which probably made life a whole lot easier for him when it came to drawing. Another character who fans might be surprised to hear Horikoshi had some difficulty with is Bakugo. On the surface, the explosive wannabe hero may seem like he has a pretty basic design, but when considering that Horikoshi needs to ensure this guy almost always looks angry, annoyed, or aggressive in every scene he's in, it definitely can't be easy for him to convey this on every single panel.
Most fans assume that Horikoshi is specifically referencing Bakugo in the final war when he makes this comment, considering this is where the hero's very best illustrations are located. Horikoshi truly went above and beyond to shine a spotlight on as many key characters as possible during the climax of the story, resulting in some frankly jaw-dropping artwork, much of which featuring the spiky-haired hero himself.
- Release Date
- 2016 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- TBS, MBS, Nippon TV
- Directors
- Shouji Ikeno, Tsuyoshi Tobita, Ikuro Sato, Takudai Kakuchi, Masashi Abe, Tetsuya Miyanishi, Kazuma Komatsu, Yoshifumi Sasahara, Masayuki Otsuki, Daisuke Tsukushi, Takayuki Yamamoto, Yohei Fukui, Takuro Tsukada, Masatoyo Takada, Naomi Nakayama, Sayaka Morikawa, Takanori Yano
Cast
-
Daiki YamashitaIzuku Midoriya (voice) -
Kaito IshikawaManga Fukidashi (voice)
WHERE TO WATCH
In My Hero Academia, some humans have superpowers called quirks. Izuku Midoriya, nicknamed Deku, is not one of them. Deku has always idolized heroes like the number one hero, All Might, and since he was a child, he has always wanted to be a hero. However, his lack of a quirk has always held him back, but a chance encounter with All Might after discovering a classmate in danger sets Deku on the path to becoming a true hero. My Hero Academia centers around Deku and a class of heroes-in-training at UA. This school shapes young quirk users into future heroes through fake rescue missions, combat training, and other hero-tempering tasks. With young Deku inheriting the "One-For-All" quirk, he will learn what it means to be a true hero while facing off with dastardly supervillains.
- Seasons
- 8
- Creator
- Kōhei Horikoshi
